


Coffee, Chocolate, Lavender Roses and Everything Else in Between

by nicolevixen



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Attempt at Humor, Bets & Wagers, Fluff, Humor, I can’t believe this is almost 9k words, Interviews, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Matchmaking, Not sure how to tag that, Now with a epilogue (jazz music), Office AU, Or More Like, Pining, Roses, Secret Admirer, but I have no idea how an office works, characters from other games mentioned but im only tagging the ones that talk, like Amami is literally carrying this relationship and he’s not even in it, or like confessionals?, oumasai, so light that I hesitated counting it as angst, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24763006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicolevixen/pseuds/nicolevixen
Summary: “Oh no, it’s not just a gift!” Kokichi chirps after a beat, “There’s a heart! It’s a secret admirer gift!”“What.”Saihara Shuichi works in a perfectly normal office with his weird friends and even weirder coworkers.Everything is peaceful until an innocent cup of coffee makes it’s way to his desk.(Or a secret admirer office AU that literally no one wanted or asked for, but I wrote anyways)
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 16
Kudos: 223





	1. An (totally) Ordinary Office

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I do my actual schoolwork or write this mess? Obviously we know which side won 
> 
> I wasn’t actually gonna post this, but times change. Basically, my friend encouraged me to post my writing unaware it was a oumasai fanfic haha
> 
> Anyways, I hope this okay! *yeets myself into the sun*

Things in the office always fell into a pattern. 

  
  


For example, Shuichi knew on Mondays that he should avoid Yonaga as much as possible as she seems to be more insistent on her blood sacrifices. On Tuesdays, Ouma would take him out for lunch at a different place each time. On Wednesday, Owari from two floors above would always take her lunch early and drag Chabashira away from her work for a wing special at a nearby takeout joint. Every other Thursday, Hoshi would only work half-day because of his tennis lessons, and on Fridays, Momota would drag Harukawa out for lunch, always bringing back Shuichi some ( _sweet, sweet)_ coffee.

  
  


As chaotic as his office floor was, these were facts that never changed. 

  
  


So imagine his surprise when he found a cup of dark, scalding coffee sitting on his desk without any explanation except for his name and a heart scribbled on the side in black glitter pen.

  
  


Afraid that it was a prank, he cautiously poked at the cup with a blue pen that he conveniently had on him, looking out for anything that looked potentially dangerous (like mouse-traps or laser pointers). Kiibo passed by his partition looking at him confusedly.

  
  


After a few minutes of prodding, he decided the drink was safe and raised the cup to his lips to try it. It was just a simple black coffee without any sugar, just as he and a few other people knew he liked it. 

  
  


He narrowed his eyes at the drink.

  
  


—————

  
  


“It’s strange.” Shuichi sits at his desk, twirling his pen between his fingers. He stares the camera in the eyes. Lens. Eye-lens. He doesn’t quite know what to call it and it’s bothering him way more than it should.

  
  


“I mean, no one _told_ me they were getting me coffee.” He frowns to himself, “After all, Kaito always does on Fridays. It’s the pattern.”

  
  


There is a loud clatter of metal and thin plastic from a few cubicles down, “No one knows or cares about your stupid, goddamn patterns Shyhara!” Iruma yells. There’s another crash, now louder and more disastrous. She starts spitting out swears so fast that Shuichi is forced to quickly turn off the camera. 

  
  


—————

  
  


“Hey handsome~”

  
  


Shuichi nearly chokes on his coffee at the voice. He turns in his chair and spots who exactly he thought he would see.

  
  


Clad in a pure white suit and his usual purple and black checkered tie, Ouma Kokichi sat(?) in his chair (he had pushed the backrest down and was now lying on his stomach parallel to the ground, rolling around the office like a superhero would) with an overly large Cheshire grin on his face.

  
  


“A-Ah, Ouma. What are you doing.. here?” Shuichi smiles nervously, praying to Atua or what other god that he wasn’t blushing.

  
  


Ouma’s face goes steely and honestly a bit creepy for a guy rolling around on his chair, “I work here.” 

  
  


Shuichi feels his face actually flush this time, “N-No, I mean— Why are you _here._ Like, in front of me.”

  
  


“Oh! That!” Ouma’s face instantly lit up again and he scrambled to sit up, “I smelt coffee! And according to the pattern, you shouldn’t have coffee! So I wanted to see what’s up!”

  
  


“See Iruma? Someone knows about the patterns..” 

  
  


“Huh?”

  
  


“Oh, uh—“ Shuichi fumbles with the cup for a minute, before showing him the side of it where his name rested, “Someone left this on my desk. I guess it was a gift.”

  
  


“Oh no, it’s not just a gift!” Ouma chirps after a beat, “There’s a heart! It’s a secret admirer gift!” 

  
  


“ _What._ ”

  
  


—————

  
  


“Secret admirer?” Shuichi panics, “Who would like _me?_ I’m the guy that killed the floor’s cacti and nearly set it on _fire.”_ He sweeps his hair away from his eyes in a panic, “I nearly set _cacti_ on _fire_. Everyone got mad and ignored me for a week.” 

  
  


He pauses, his face softening, “Except for Ouma of course. He found it absolutely hilarious.”

  
  


—————

  
  


Ouma rolls his eyes at him, “Yeah, a secret admirer. Y’know, like someone who _likes_ you—“

  
  


“I know what a secret admirer is!” He yelps, a bit too loudly as Amami— who’s cubicle was on the opposite side of the aisle — raised an eyebrow at him, “But like, who would like _me_?” 

  
  


Amami snorts and Ouma glares at him, reaching into Shuichi’s cubicle to grab a stapler which he chucks at Amami’s head. It hits him square in the face and he falls off his chair.

  
  


—————

  
  


“Haha. ‘Who would like me?’ Saihara asks,” Amami chuckles. He rips open the covering for a pink bandaid and sticks it on his cheek, where there is a stapled shaped dent that is starting to bleed.

  
  


“Wouldn’t you like to know weather boy?” He quotes, leaning backwards in his chair. If it didn’t fix the exact context, he didn’t care. 

  
  


Another stapler, now purple with chess piece stickers, flies past his face but misses by a long shot. It crashes into an innocent potted plant across the room, shattering the pot and sending dirt falling across the floor. Yonaga lets out a cry as she dashed to save it. 

  
  


Amami sighs and goes back to work.

  
  


—————

_Shuichi Saihara’s Phone_

  
  


**Shylock Homes:** hey sorry for asking but I need your help regarding the coffee cup thing???

**Shylock Homes:** i mean, you seem to know more about it than anyone else does?

**Grape Panta:** ooooo u need my help with something?!

**Shylock Homes:** oh it’s you

**Grape Panta:** ouch????

**Shylock Homes:** i meant to text amami, sorry

**Grape Panta:** wait wait wait wait

**Grape Panta:** how did u mix up me and rantaro-chan names

**Grape Panta:** like our names arent even close at all

**Shylock Homes:** contrary to popular belief, I’m not a stick in the mud and I don’t save most people under their actual name. now I gotta get back to work. you should too

**Grape Panta:** oh

**Grape Panta:** oh! whats mine????

**Grape Panta:** shumai? 

**Grape Panta:** hello???

**Grape Panta:** SAIHARA-CHAN?!?!

  
  


—————

  
  


“Kaede!” Shuichi storms towards her receptionist desk at top speed, “I need your help!”

  
  


“Oh!” The blonde blinks at him looking surprised as her phone slips from her fingers and hits the carpeted floor, “What’s up?”

  
  


“It’s about the—“ It’s only then Shuichi notices that there was someone else at the desk with her. A very familiar, annoying someone.

  
  


“Saihara-chan!” Ouma beams, “Do you come here often, beautiful?” He sends Shuichi finger guns and a wink, which makes the taller sigh not unfondly.

  
  


He extended a thumb in his direction, “What’s he doing here?”

  
  


Akamatsu giggles, “Oh, we were just talking. Don’t worry about it.” She waves her hand dismissively and leans over the desk, “So, what’s up?”

  
  


“Well, uh,” Shuichi stutters. He feels more awkward talking about it knowing that there was someone else there. But what could he do about it? “Well.. Someone left a cup of coffee on my desk this morning, and I was wondering if you knew who it was?”

  
  


“Nope!” She said, far too quickly for it to not be suspicious. She suddenly leans back and starts fiddling with the office’s phone, “Sorry!”

  
  


“But.. That’s impossible.. You sit at this desk before people even come in. You had to see someone holding a cup or two.”

  
  


Akamatsu continues to smile at him, albeit a bit forced, “Sorry Shuichi. I can’t help you with this.” 

  
  


“But I can for a bit!” Ouma suddenly pipes in, startling them both. Shuichi had started to forget he was there (which is something he never thought he would ever say). “I can help you find your mysterious lover, Shumai!”

  
  


“Oh, well, uh—“ 

  
  


“I think you should accept Kokichi’s help.” Akamatsu shrugs. There is an unfavourable glint in her eyes, “I mean, it’s better than investigating on your own.”

  
  


“Well said Kaede-chan!” He chirps. He then grabs Shuichi’s arm and drags him away from Akamatsu’s desk without warning, sending the girl a wave before turning back to the bewildered man.

  
  


“Since when were you two on a first-name basis?” Shuichi blurts. It’s the first thing that comes to mind, and he wants to punch himself for asking something so nosy. 

  
  


Ouma raises an eyebrow, “Does that really matter when we’re trying to find your one true love?” He says dramatically, causing Shuichi to flush.

  
  


“Fair enough, but we have no leads.” Shuichi covers his mouth with his hand, a nervous habit that came when he lost his hat, “If Kaede never saw the person, that means probably no one else had.”

  
  


“She didn’t see the person?” Ouma tilts his head a bit to the side, “But like you said, that can’t be possible considering how much of a workaholic she is.”

  
  


“So what does that mean? Were they invisible or something if she didn’t see them?” His brain kept turning with ideas of what could have happened. Perhaps someone hid the coffee in their bag? But that wouldn’t be very safe as it would be easy to spill. Maybe someone dropped it in from the ceiling? But who would go through all that trouble to deliver coffee? Especially to him? 

  
  


“But that’s Kaede’s lie, isn’t it?” Ouma said suddenly, raising a finger in the air.

  
  


“Uh— What?”

  
  


Ouma rolls his eyes again, and Shuichi thinks he should start keeping a tally count on how many times he tends to do that around him, “I mean, she could be _lying_ right? Lying isn’t a foreign concept to you, _right?_ ”

  
  


“But why would she lie to me?” 

  
  


Ouma fixes him with such an uncharacteristically, empty stare that it made his skin crawl, “I. Don’t. Know. What do you think, _Sherlock?_ ” He drawled out the last word mockingly, making Shuichi flinch. Having Ouma saying something like that doesn’t do any favours on what’s left of his self-esteem. 

  
  


“Oh well.. I’m not sure?” He says nervously.

  
  


“Well then, why didn’t you just say that, my beloved!” Ouma goes back to his overjoyed self so fast that it gives Shuichi whiplash. He links his hands behind his head and grins, “Well, tell me when you figure it out!” He turns on the heel of his dress shoe and walks away, leaving Shuichi more confused than when he started.

  
  


—————

  
  


Amami stumbles into the room and quickly locks the door behind him. There’s a different bandaid on his face now. It’s a black and white checkerboard pattern instead of the bright pink from earlier. 

  
  


“Yikes, sorry about that,” He apologizes, sitting down backwards in the chair. “Ishimaru started yelling about me about the bet.”

  
  


He tilts his head ever so slightly, “I wonder if anyone told you about it considering it is supposed to be confidential.”

  
  


He shrugs and keeps talking anyways, “It’s about Saihara and Kokichi obviously. When they’ll get their act together and confess specifically.”

  
  


His eyes widened slightly, “Oh and they’re obviously infatuated with each other. Tojo taught me that word when she asked me about the bet. It’s just that Kokichi’s terrible at expressing his feelings, and I’m not sure if Saihara recognized his.”

  
  


He crossed his arms together on top of the backrest and scoffs, his face suddenly going annoyed, “Ishimaru kept scolding me about it, which isn’t fair considering that I heard from Momota, who heard from Harukawa, who heard from Pekoyama, who heard from Kuzuryuu, who heard from Oowada that he slipped in a 20 for a Valentine's Day get together.” 

  
  


He shrugged, “I personally said they’ll get their act together and confess this month. I put 100 bucks on the two,” He grins smugly, “I’m very confident.”

  
  


“Also lucky. Not as lucky as Naegi or Komaeda, but still lucky enough not be banned from betting.” He runs a hand through his soft looking green hair, “I better win or I’m gonna have to bunk with Kiibo for the next few months…”

  
  


—————

  
  


The rest of the week passed in a blur of paperwork, (usual) shenanigans, and black coffee. With all the extra caffeine, Shuichi was more energetic than ever which made his coworkers smile at the new change in attitude (save for Chabashira of course. He was still a dumb dengenrate in her mind).

  
  


After the weekend, Shuichi walked to his desk expecting to find another cup of coffee, but was instead met with a sleek box of homemade chocolates sitting on his desk like they had a right to be there (which it really didn’t). 

  
  


He blinks at it again and instantly turns around to face Amami, who was staring at him with an amused expression.

  
  


“You know something,” He accused, jabbing a finger at him.

  
  


Amami raises an eyebrow, “I don’t like that accusatory tone.”

  
  


“Well, I would use another tone, but I’m trying to accuse you of something.”

  
  


“If you can’t figure it out by now, it's your own fault.” 

  
  


“What’s that supposed to even _mean_?”

  
  


Amami just shrugs in his usual, mysterious way and gets up with a stack of papers in his hands (if he’s really going to the printer to make copies or to simply pretend he’s working is beyond him) and walks away, leaving Shuichi standing stupidly in the middle of the small aisle. He sighs and walks up to the box and opens it. Inside is a perfectly safe (though looks can be deceiving) looking bar of white and milk chocolate in a checkerboard pattern. Just like the coffee cup incident(s), there’s a small note taped onto the side of the box, now written in purple glitter pen with his name and a small heart. 

  
  


“Did you get another love gift, my beloved?”

  
  


Shuichi nearly flings the box behind him at the sudden voice, wanting to scream from the scare. Instead he makes a strangled sound akin to a dying whale.

  
  


“How did you know I was here?” He says instead to cover up his embarrassment.

  
  


Ouma tried to take the box of chocolate from Shuichi’s hand, despite their height difference, “I could feel your blood rising from where I was in the room.” He jumps forwards, just as Shuichi steps back.

  
  


“That’s physically impossible.”

  
  


“Yes it totally is! I’m a wizard. Now, gimme the chocolates!”

  
  


“Wait. How’d you know they were chocolates?”

  
  


Ouma freezes mid-jump and stumbles awkwardly on his feet. His face goes blank for the slightest second when he regains his footing — an expression that a Shuichi has associated with when the little gremlin had been caught off-guard — before his lips turned up into another grin, “I’m psychic! Or maybe I have good intuition?” 

  
  


“That’s gotta be a lie.”

  
  


“Nishishi~ Bravo Shumai, you figured me out! You’re so, so, so smart!” Ouma linked his hands behind his head, his eyes sparkling dramatically, “I have a sweet tooth! Of course I’m an ultimate at recognizing chocolate!”

  
  


Shuichi didn’t completely buy it, but if it’s the only answer he’ll get, he’ll happily take it over some other ridiculous excuse.

  
  


—————

  
  


“Does the entire office know about the gifts Shuichi’s been receiving?” Akamatsu scoops a spoon of strawberry frozen yogurt into her mouth, shivering slightly from the cold, “Yup. It’s pretty funny seeing him scurry around like a headless chicken trying to find the sender for a week now.”

  
  


She tosses the cup into the trash, “He should be trying to accuse Amami of sending him the chocolates 'cause they had the same pattern as his bandaids.” There’s a yell and the sound of glass shattering on the ground. Akamatsu cringes knowing that Tojo would have to clean that up afterwards. 

  
  


She should be due for a pay rise soon. She makes a note to bring it up to their boss later.

  
  


—————

  
  


“I give up.” 

  
  


Harukawa doesn’t even look up from her work to see his pathetic self. Her fingers continue to click rhymically on the keyboard, typing word after word on whatever she was working on. Somewhere in the back of the room, Shinguji tests a see-saw contraction he had just invented and launches both Chabashira and Yumeno into a large stack of plastic cups (why they were there, Shuichi had no clue) that all tumble onto the ground making a chaotic crashing sound. Throughout this, Harukawa doesn’t bat an eyelash.

  
  


No wonder she was the first one to leave everyday.

  
  


“It’s been a week. These can stop tomorrow for all you know.”

  
  


“But I have a feeling it won’t. Call it detective intuition.”

  
  


“Unfortunately, you’re not a detective despite the fact you very well could be. You’ve dedicated your soul to office work instead for some incomprehensible reason.”

  
  


“... I’m as much of a detective as Kaito is an astronaut.”

  
  


“So not at all?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


She sighs and hits the print button. She stands and smooths out the wrinkles on her dark skirt, “Listen. This isn’t my business and I don’t care. But because I’m supposed to be your friend or something, I’ll give you moral support.”

  
  


—————

  
  


Harukawa puffs out her cheeks and wrings her hands in front of her chest, “I might care… a little…” 

  
  


“Kaito placed a stupid bet on him and Ouma that’s he almost definitely isn’t going to win. That idiot is just asking to be in debt at this rate.”

  
  


“And…” She runs her hands through her ponytail, looking more frustrated by the minute, “And I’m only supporting him for his sake. Not for that purple menace’s.”

  
  


“He’s been lonely and needs more people in his life,” She mutters softly. Her eyes then glow crimson and she’s suddenly holding a _very_ sharp knife.

  
  


“But if whoever watches these things tell him I said that, I’ll deny it and kill you,” she threatens. She throws the knife like a dagger and it hits the direct center of the lens, shattering it. The footage continues recording for a second longer, before cutting out.

  
  


—————

  
  


Shuichi walks into his office on Tuesday and there are an exact dozen of lavender roses scattered around his desk (and he’s starting to think this is getting a little ridiculous). He stares at one that was limply hanging off his computer monitor and turns around. Amami has one of the most amused expressions Shuichi has seen on him since this whole admirer thing started. There’s a rose petal on his shoulder and Shuichi just knows he had a role in this. Amami then turns away, hiding a snicker.

  
  


“Woahhh~ Flowers!” Another voice chimes in, sounding genuinely excited.

  
  


“Yes. Flowers. Good morning, Ouma. Do you want one?”

  
  


A soft blush spread up from the base of his neck to the very tips of his ears, “Whaa?!” He scoffs, pulling the collar of his dress shirt to hide himself, “You’re just gonna give your admirer flowers to me? Well, too bad! I don’t want your stinky flowers anyways!” He rambles. Shuichi pays it no mind.

  
  


“Oh, okay then. I just don’t know what to do with all these.”

  
  


He grabs a rose that was stuck inside the capsule of a dismantled pen, “Do you know about the flower game, Saihara-chan? You can play plenty of times with all these.” Ouma blinks (cutely) innocently up at him, his blush fading, before he starts pulling on the delicate petals “He loves me, he loves me not,” He chants, picking off the petals and letting them flutter gently to his feet.

  
  


“O-Oh, can you n-not do that here? Tojo’s going to have to clean this up afterwards—“

  
  


Ouma doesn’t listen, but rather keeps plucking off the last remaining petals until he’s left with just the stem. He finishes on ‘loves me’ and he scoffs. He then tosses the stem aside as hard as he can. It hits Amami in the back of his head. “Anyways, Shumai! Have fun with your flowers!” And as confusedly and quickly as he appeared, he left. 

  
  


————— 

  
  


“Lavender roses…” Shuichi muses. He’s sitting in front of his computer, the roses still scattered around him. He types _‘what is the meaning of lavender roses’_. He quickly scans the article and his eyes go wide. He shuts his computer off quickly, staring at the black screen like it has just exploded in his face. 

  
  


He clears his throat and looks towards the camera, “Lavender roses suggests, er,” He blushes, awkwardly fiddling with his dark blue tie with one hand, “They suggest.. love at first sight…” He finishes, his voice getting quieter and squeakier with every word.

  
  


“Oh god. And I offered one to Ouma.” His blush deepens and he hides his face in his hands, “Please… Stop recording me now…”

  
  


—————

  
  


“Morning Shuichi!” Akamatsu calls as she watches him walk out of the office with a bunch of roses in his hand.

  
  


“Ah, good m-morning Kaede,” He smiles sheepishly, “This is kinda hard to explain…” He gestures to the dozens of lavender roses in his hand.

  
  


“No need!” She reaches under her desk and pulls out a pretty purple, glass vase out of nowhere. She places it on her desk and fills it up halfway with water from her thermos, “Let me guess. Your admirer?”

  
  


Shuichi snickers quietly and gently places the flowers into the vase, rearranging them to make it look like a decent bouquet, “Right on the mark like always. I just need to leave them somewhere that’s not my desk. It’s getting quite crowded.”

  
  


She hummed, “Do you want them back afterwards?” She asked, running her hands through the soft petals, “I’m getting attached.”

  
  


“Hmm. No it’s fine, you can keep them here. They look nice. Makes your desk look less depressing,” He laughed, while Akamatsu elbowed him in the side playfully. “You’re the best Kaede, you know that right?”

  
  


“Yup! But it’s still nice to hear it from you!” She smiles a smile that could probably melt ice. Shuichi laughs again and waves goodbye before heading back into the office.

  
  


—————

  
  


“Happy lunch Shumai~ Ready to go?” Ouma sings. He held a half-drunk bottle of grape panta in one hand, and a blindingly bright purple wallet in the other.

  
  


“Um, yes?” Shuichi stutters. He quickly ctrl+s his document and shuts his computer off.

  
  


“Mmh, yup! So, do you wanna—“ Ouma paused, taking in Shuichi’s now very empty desk, “What happened to the flowers?” 

  
  


“Oh uh, I gave them to Kaede,” Shuichi said sheepishly. His hand unconsciously reached to rub the back of his neck. He didn’t notice how Ouma was a bit quieter than usual.

  
  


“You gave them to Kaede?” 

  
  


“Uh, yeah. They were taking up a bunch of spaces and I thought she would like them more,” He flushed, “She likes flowers.”

  
  


Ouma’s face was utterly and completely blank. 

  
  


Shuichi notices this and reaches his hand out to the other man worriedly, “Ouma…?”

  
  


Ouma instantly snapped back to his normal self, “Oh! That’s cool! I didn’t know you had a thing for Kaede-chan!” He says far too quickly for Shuichi to fully understand. There’s a noticeable quiver in his tone and despite the large grin on his face, Shuichi could tell that he wasn’t putting as much heart into it like he usually did. “Well, I’ll be going then!” Ouma gave a short salute, before rushing away and out of the office as fast as his short legs could carry him.

  
  


“W-Wait! What about lunch, Ouma—?” Shuichi called worriedly. But the purple haired man was already gone.

  
  


—————

  
  


The next two days passed by without any gifts being delivered to him. The air in the office felt more sullen those two days. It was quiet except for the clatter of keys from the keyboards and the loud buzzing of the printer.

  
  


Shuichi, like usual, was panicking because _what happened_ to his admirer? Did they give up on him? Was it a joke? A giant prank to make fun of him and gets his hopes up? A prank to prove how very unlovable he really is—

  
  


Even worse, Ouma hadn’t spoken a word to him since that lunch incident. And even, _even_ worse, he didn’t know why Ouma was so set on ignoring him anyways. 

  
  


He added unlucky to his mental list of character traits along with unloveable.

  
  


He smacked his head onto his desk, groaning at the pain of his bad decision. His forehead hit his keyboard, accidentally shutting off his computer and deleting the four hours of work he had just completed on his document. 

  
  


He wasn’t sure if it was a blessing in disguise, or just a testament to the fact that he really was just unlucky.

  
  


—————

  
  


The only thing you can see is a large green eye right up to the camera. Then, there’s a whisper.

  
  


“I think something happened,” The low voice of Amami Rantaro breathed, “The office is deadly quiet. Not even Iruma is trying to speak up. This isn’t going well for my wallet, or for their relationship.”

  
  


“Like always, it’s obviously about Kokichi and Saihara. The former has been really distant and quiet lately. I think Saihara said something. I’m gonna kill him with my bare hands if I find out he actually did hurt Kokichi.”

  
  


—————

  
  


“Saihara.”

  
  


Shuichi turns around and gives a glum wave at Amami with his free hand, who’s standing in front of him with a cold demeanor, “If you’re going to kill me, make it quick please.” Shuichi takes the gloomiest bite out of his sad sandwich.

  
  


Amami never knew how sad a goddamn sandwich could look until now and his face softens to a warmer, but still cold expression.

  
  


“I was going to kill you, but now seeing how pathetic you are right now, I can see you’re clearly suffering as well.”

  
  


“What do you mean?”

  
  


Amami blinks at him scarily, a shadow falling over his face that made him look downright demonic. Shuichi tries to back away, but the cleaning closet he’s eating his lunch in is smaller than he thought and there’s already a mop roughly poking itself into his back. 

  
  


“F-Fair enough.” He takes another bite out of his sandwich, “So what do you want me to do? I don’t know what’s wrong with Ouma, and I don’t know what happened to my admirer.”

  
  


Amami stares at him for a moment before hitting his head against the shelf, making a painful sound (Shuichi jumps back in shock, instantly regretting it as the mop really hurt), “Listen, Saihara. I know you tend to have your dumb moments, but there’s no way your actually this ignorant.”

  
  


“Huh?” 

  
  


The two of them blink at each other in silence. Amami huffs, “You know what, I’m going to help you out. Just pretend this is a class trial or something. Now listen to me. When did you get a gift last?”

  
  


**_When was the last time the admirer gifts came in?_ **

**_A:_ ** _Monday_

 _ > _ **_B:_ ** _Tuesday_

 **_C:_ ** _Last month_

 **_D:_ ** _Today_

 **_E:_ ** _Last Year_

  
  


“The last time I was given a gift… It was two days ago wasn’t it? Tuesday with the roses?” Shuichi said meekly. 

  
  


“Mmh, that’s right.” Amami crosses his arms, his lips curving into a more pleasant smile, “Now, what was different that day?”

  
  


**_Hmm.. This is a tough one… What was different that Tuesday day?_ **

**_A:_ ** _Kiibo forgot to water his daisies_

 **_B:_ ** _Shirogane wasn’t wearing her glasses_

 **_C:_ ** _Souda blew up his computer again_

 _ > _ **_D:_ ** _Ouma didn’t bring Shuichi out to lunch_

 **_E:_ ** _Ishimaru missed a day of work_

  
  


“Right! Ouma skipped out on lunch with me! He had never done that before.” He had totally let that slip his mind until now. 

  
  


“Correct again. Now, do you know a reason why he skipped on lunch?” 

  
  


“... I don’t…” Shuichi frowned. So far, in the many months since they’ve met, Ouma had always taken him out despite anything. Even during the middle of a thunderstorm that one time.

  
  


“Turn you thinking around,” Amami advised, “Instead of asking yourself _why_ exactly he didn’t go eat, think of _what_ could have made him not want to eat with you. Think of any behaviour changes he made.”

  
  


**_What could be a reason why Ouma didn’t bring Shuichi out to eat?_ **

_ > _ **_A:_ ** _He was feeling upset over the roses_

 **_B:_ ** _He actually really hated Shuichi the whole time and never wanted to interact with him again_

 **_C:_ ** _He was tired from his work_

 **_D:_ ** _He wasn’t feeling hungry that day_

 **_E:_ ** _He never intended to take Shuichi out_

  
  


“Well, it can't be that he didn’t want to eat because he did ask if I was ready to go… Wait… When I told him I gave the roses away, he started acting a little quieter. And, uh, normal..” Shuichi mused, muttering the last part. He wasn’t quite sure what Amami would do if he insulted Ouma, and he didn’t really want to find out.

  
  


“He did, didn’t he?” 

  
  


“How do you even know this? You weren’t even there?”

  
  


“Details, details. It’s a survivor perk for dealing with you two. Anyways, why would he act so strongly about the flowers?”

  
  


**_Why would Ouma be upset about Shuichi giving his admirer’s flowers away?_ **

**_A:_ ** _He liked how they looked on his desk_

 **_B:_ ** _He wanted Shuichi to give him the flowers_

 **_C:_ ** _He wanted to play a prank involving them_

 **_D:_ ** _He wanted to steal them to scare Shuichi_

 _ > _ **_E:_ ** _Because Ouma was the one who sent the flowers_

  
  


When the final fact clicked in his mind, everything came together in staggering force, like a leaf blower being shot at his face. It was so intense in fact, that he almost dropped what was left of his sandwich.

  
  


Amami looked at him knowingly with a small smile, “You figured it out, huh?”

  
  


“Gah.”

  
  


He held back a strangled laugh, “So? What do you think?”

  
  


Shuichi started to pace around the cramped room, “Ouma is my admirer? But that makes no sense…” His head snapped up and his eyes went as wide as saucers, “Wait no. That makes perfect sense.”

  
  


—————

  
  


“The coffee.” Shuichi went straight into overdrive mode, pacing around the room so fast that the camera’s quality dropped several frames, “He knows I like pure black coffee. And the chocolate. It was checkered like his tie. And that makes sense why he knew the box had chocolates in it without me telling him. And oh my god, the flowers. There were so many other flowers and different rose colours that could have represented love much better than the lavender roses could, but he still chose the most purpleish one. Because Ouma and purple. Purple and Ouma. Ouma and—“

  
  


“Oh my god I’m such an idiot,” Shuichi said, his face horror-struck.

  
  


—————

  
  


“Okayyy~ That's enough panicking now I think,” Amami cut in, grabbing the shorter’s shoulders to ground him, “Are you okay?” He asked worriedly. Shuichi eyes were still wide.

  
  


“I messed up.”

  
  


Amami gently patted his shoulder, “I know.”

  
  


“I really, really, _really,_ screwed up.”

  
  


“I understand, Saihara.”

  
  


“He thinks I like Kaede since I gave her the flower.”

  
  


“Yes, I know and I’m still mad at you for doing so.”

  
  


“What do I do?! Don’t just stand there all calm!” Shuichi practically shrieked, which really wasn’t doing him any favours in terms of _anything._

  
  


Amami sighs, “Why do I have to do everything for _your_ relationship?”

  
  


“What?!”

  
  


“Nothing. Why not just talk? Y’know, like normal people do?”

  
  


Shuichi straight up froze like the idea didn’t come to him (spoiler alert: it didn’t), “Right. Talking. Because I’m absolutely great at talking. Pushing sound vibration out of one’s mouth to send a idea or thought to another.”

  
  


“You’re starting to sound like Kiibo.”

  
  


“I have no time to lose, uh—“ Shuichi pulls out his phone and quickly checks the time, “My lunch is over soon! Ah, thanks Amami!” Shuichi makes a dash to the door, but the other man stops him, catching his shoulder.

  
  


“Call me Rantaro. After all, you are going to be my honorary brother-in-law soon.” He smiles softly with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, which was nearly equivalent to a full-blown cackle in anyone else’s case.

  
  


This time Shuichi does drop his sandwich, sputtering in embarrassment as he runs out of the closet closing the door behind him, leaving Amami and a half-eaten sandwich in the small room. He stays there still for a while processing what just happened even when the automatic lights turned off.

  
  


Eventually, the door opens again and lights poured into the room as Kiibo walks in looking utterly confused — he had a strange luck of finding others in weird or unexplainable situations to the point where most people in the office had claimed it as his own brand of luck — at why Amami was standing in a dark cleaning closet with a destroyed sandwich at his feet. 

  
  


“Do I want to know..?” He asks cautiously, his teal eyes darting between the green haired boy and the sandwich.

  
  


“It’s a long story. So long story short,” Amami smiles, “I think I just might have won a bet.”

  
  


—————

  
  


Shuichi instantly regrets running out of the closet because it just came to his attention that he had no clue where Ouma could have been hiding. 

  
  


He knows of some of his more commonly known hiding spots. Spots like behind Komaeda’s desk or on top of some books on the library’s shelfs (why their _office_ has a _library_ he still doesn't know). He runs to both places first (Komaeda wasn’t in which probably was a blessing) but doesn’t find him anywhere. However when dejectedly exiting the library, Shuichi caught a glimpse of plum purple hair rounding the corner. Shuichi quickly chased after it, feeling like an officer chasing a shadow thief through a maze. 

  
  


Eventually after climbing many flights of stairs and turning many confusing corners, he caught up to Ouma at a dead-end of a hall.

  
  


Ouma blinked, “Oh. Well, I suppose you outsmarted me for once Mister Detective!” He grinned, “Are you gonna arrest me now? Throw me into jail? That’ll be a challenge to break out of!” He held his fists in front of his chest, his eyes literally sparkling. He was much too upbeat to see him considering he had spent the last two days trying to avoid him.

  
  


“What?” That was the last thing he was expecting, but considering it was _Ouma_ , he didn’t know why he was still surprised every time the other man said something strange.

  
  


“But you can't,” He sighed, staring into his open hand, “I have a meeting with our supervisor, Mitarai. And I don’t wanna be late.”

  
  


“Um, Mitarai is not our supervisor?” Shuichi says in a daze. He has no idea what’s happening.

  
  


“Oh! You got me! But I really gotta get going! You don’t want me to get fired, do you?” Ouma said deviously, holding a finger over his lips.

  
  


“No.”

  
  


“Yup, you don’t want me to get fired. So I’ll see you later, Saihara.” Ouch. The lack of honorifics hurt more than Shuichi thought it would, especially since he didn’t particularly like the ‘chan’ at the end of his name.

  
  


“Wait, no,” Shuichi blurts, he catches Ouma’s shoulder when he tries to sneak past him.

  
  


“Wow~ So do you want me to be fired then? You really gotta make a decision, because I really have to go.”

  
  


Despite the fact that what Ouma was saying could have been entirely false, he stills feel guilty holding him back, even if he did have a meeting or not, “Are you really busy?”

  
  


“Yup! Now let go of me before the bomb on my sleeve detonates,” He hissed, yanking his arm away, “Now goodbye!” He turned around to leave, but Shuichi caught him again, grabbing both his shoulders and spinning him back around so that they were facing each other.

  
  


“Oh, come on.”

  
  


“Ouma, I really want to talk,” Shuichi pleads, sending the other his best puppy dog eyes (which no person had ever said no to before).

  
  


But of course, Ouma wasn’t like most people and he looked away, “Well, I don’t. You can’t _make_ me talk, can you?” He crossed his arms, continuing to look away though Shuichi could tell from months of friendship (and the fact that he wasn’t thrashing away from his touch) that his resolve was crumbling.

  
  


“You were the one who sent me those admirer gifts.” Shuichi cut to the chase. They’ve been here far too long already and allowing Ouma to keep talking would probably do things to _his_ will.

  
  


Shuichi expected him to explicitly deny it or something, but not to break out in uproarious laughter. “ _Me_ ? Sending you those stupid gifts? That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said!” He said between chuckles, “I mean, who would like _you_?”

  
  


Shuichi physically recoiled at this, dropping his hands off Ouma's shoulders as a fleeting expression of pain flashed through his face. He knew that he had a tendency to jab at others to get out of situations, but he didn’t have to be that rude.

  
  


“Ouma…” He composed himself again, absentmindedly glancing away, “I know you sent the chocolates and flowers. The chocolate is checkered patterned, just like your tie and the flowers are purple. Purple is your favourite colour, right?” Shuichi said softly, playing with the fringe of his hair. 

  
  


“No, it’s red,” He blurted automatically. 

  
  


“Huh?”

  
  


“Instinct,” He explained blankly, “But that’s all just circumstantial evidence. Someone else could've planted all that to catch you off guard.”

  
  


“But Rantaro also told me you sent them,” Shuichi said. No way he could talk his way out of that.

  
  


“He did!?” Ouma whined, biting his thumb-nail, “Well, he could have just lied for the bet!”

  
  


“There’s a bet?” Shuichi blinked, baffled. He shook his head. Ouma was almost definitely trying to change the subject and he’d be damned if he’d let that happen. “Is it that bad to admit you were my admirer?”

  
  


Ouma practically growled in frustration as he pulled on his hair, “Jeez! You’re not gonna let me go until I admit it, aren’t you?” 

  
  


“So you’re admitting it then.” Shuichi felt his heart start to race, “You did send them, Ouma.”

  
  


“Yeah, yeah, fine. But it was just a huge joke! I don’t like you at all!” Ouma gave him an overly sweet, but strained smile. 

  
  


Shuichi smiled affectionately at him, his brain and heart still racing, “That’s much too big of a lie for you to tell, Kokichi.”

  
  


The purple haired man looked as if someone had just shot an arrow at him. “E-Eh?!” He stuttered, a pretty pink blush spreading across his naturally pale cheeks.

  
  


“Since we missed lunch these past two days, would you like to go out for dinner?” Shuichi asked shyly, “If you want of course. I really do like you,” he added hastily.

  
  


“Hmph.” Ouma turned his nose up in the air, all show of embarrassment flushing away in just a second, “Well, I’m a very busy man. Buuut~ I suppose I can make time for it. Though,” He scrunched up his nose, “Why did you give the flowers to Kaede-chan then?” 

  
  


Shuichi hummed contently, gently grabbing onto Ouma’s wrists and looking him in the eyes so he would know he wasn’t lying, “She’s keeping them for me since there wasn’t enough space on my desk.” He raised an eyebrow, “Lavender roses? ‘Love at first sight’? No wonder you were so flustered when I offered you one.”

  
  


Ouma scowled, but his darkening blush betrayed him, “Shut up! You’re just really pretty!”

  
  


“I’m… pretty?” Shuichi teased, “That's not usually a word I would use for myself.”

  
  


“Arg! You— You have pretty eyes!” Shuichi only laughed at his embarrassment. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Ouma cried, pulling his arms away and pouting.

  
  


Shuichi couldn’t help but laugh louder. It was rare to see Ouma so flustered and out of character. It didn’t help that he was just _so dang happy_. 

  
  


Ouma— _Kokichi_ blinked up at him in a starstruck manner, before laughing with him. It wasn’t his usual smug laugh or ‘nishishi’, but rather a melodic tinkling, like the sound of windchimes bouncing off each other in the wind. 

  
  


In the middle of an usually quiet hallway, it was just Shuichi and Kokichi alone laughing at lunch dates, secret admirers, coffee, chocolate, lavender roses and everything else in between. And in all honesty? 

  
  


That was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two works on this account and they’re both secret admirer based, wth does that say about me
> 
> Notes: 
> 
> \- Kiibo has daisies, which symbolizes innocence and purity  
> \- The office isn’t specified, but I’ll let it be known that they work in the Future Foundation, though I’m not exactly sure what their purpose is  
> \- god I love writing office au   
> 6/17/20 — My dumb brain didn’t know I was writing Amami’s name wrong. But I fixed it so I think it should be fine? Please tell me if you spot any mistakes???
> 
> [empty tumblr page](https://nicole-vixen.tumblr.com)


	2. What Happens Next (Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *checks time* IT’S STILL FRIDAY! IM NOT LATE!
> 
> Anyways, thank you for all the kudos, comments and bookmarks 🥺 this was really fun to write and I’m glad you all liked it

On Friday, the heavy office door slammed opened so loudly that every head on the floor turned their heads to see what was happening.

  
  


Instead of a zombie apocalypse, they saw Ouma standing at the door with the largest grin on his face while holding Shuichi’s hand in the air like it was a trophy, “Hey! Guess what losers?! Me and Shumai finally got together, so go pass your stupid money around!”

  
  


There was an eerie silence. Even Harukawa, who usually ignored everything, was silently staring at them with her fingers suspended over her keyboard. 

  
  


As quickly as the silence started, the entire floor bursted into utter chaos. People such as Akamatsu, Gokuhara, and Kiibo rushed over to congratulate the new couple (Shuichi blushing like a schoolgirl and Ouma happily lapping in the newfound attention), while others made calls to the other floors to spread the news. 

  
  


The only silent person was Amami, sitting at his desk with a calm smile on his face while the sounds of ringing telephones and not-so-subtle money transactions passed around him.

  
  


—————

  
  


“Okay so.” Amami sits backwards in his chair (again? Does he even know how to properly sit in a chair at this rate?) with a mug of warm milk tea, “We all know now that Shuichi and Kokichi _finally_ got together.”

  
  


“The _whole_ office was in an _uproar_ . It was crazy.” He took a sip, “It was probably the loudest our building has been, and Komaeda blew up the _entire_ gym room one time.”

  
  


“Of course, I’m happy for them. They can finally stop pining and I can get peace.” He shrugs, downing the rest of his drink.  
  


“Oh, and the bet? Canceled for direct inference.” He shrugs somewhat sheepishly, “Whoops.”

  
  


—————

  
  


Akamatsu’s sitting at his desk, a vase of lavender roses on her lap, “Did I hear the news?” She grins, “Of course I did. It’s about time. They’re adorable together!”

  
  


“In the words of Iruma Miu, ‘Their sexual tension was thick enough to cut with a knife’!” She quotes, before flushing a bit, “I’m obvious censoring it a bit. I would get fired on the spot if I said exactly what she did.”

  
  


—————

  
  


The camera is laying on it’s back, the lens staring at the ceiling and it’s fluorescent lights.

  
  


There is then a pair of wide, violet eyes staring down at the camera, “Wakey Wakey~!” The camera suddenly gets scooped up, and the face of Ouma Kokichi is finally shown. Like always, he has a cheery grin on his face.

  
  


“Why didn’t anyone tell me about these things?” Ouma questioned as he panned the camera around like he was a vlogger.

  
  


“Hello all you lovely viewers and welcome to Minecraft let’s play channel!” He chirped, flashing a wink and a peace sign.

  
  


“That’s why no one decided to tell you, you damn gremlin,” Iruma called as she passed by. For once, he didn’t bite back, but rather ignored her.

  
  


“Well, what am I supposed to do with this then? Confess my feelings?” He scoffs. His face goes blank and the camera shuts off.

  
  


—————

  
  


“So I heard Shuichi and _him_ got together,” Maki comments, “It’s hard not to when everyone is yelling about it.”

  
  


“Of course, I’m happy for Shuichi. I just don’t know why he formed an dumb crush on him out of all people.” She scowls, “But what can I do? Too bad they got together earlier than I expected.”

  
  


She doesn’t elaborate on what she means. But when she leaves the room and passes the receptionist desk, you see her slip a 20 to Akamatsu.

  
  


—————

  
  


“I am not quite sure what to say to be honest. It feels wrong to be talking about my friend behind their backs.” Kiibo sits awkwardly in his chair, his hands fidgeting with a misshapen paperclip.

  
  


“I am of course happy for them, despite Ouma not being very kind to me. Though I know he is nice inside! Saihara on the other hand is always very polite and fun to be around!” He beams, “He’s a good friend!”

  
  


There is an audible whisper from behind the camera, though you can’t exactly make out the voice. Kiibo grows panicked all of a sudden, “Oh! I’m supposed to be talking about their relationship, right? I’m sorry!”

  
  


—————

  
  


“Hmph. It was about time those damn lovesick idiots finally started making out!” Iruma said as she worked on some sort of device in front of her. It looks complicated, but if you stare long enough, it starts to take the shape of some sort of pink hammer.

  
  


“Like, gross. Their sexual tension was unbearable. And it’s really goddamn bad when _I_ can't stand their tension. I can see why a betting pool was created.” She pulls something out from under the desk. It looks like a blueprint. You can’t really be sure.

  
  


“I dunno who the hell won, and I don’t give two craps who did, but it’s only natural a genius like me would be curious.” 

  
  


“People are getting bored already too. Like, there’s already two new betting pools for two different couples from the floor above. Don’t people have better damn things to do with their stinkin’ money?” She reaches under the desk again and now pulls out a couple of _damn grenades._ They seem cartoonish with their bright pink colour and cute bear face on the front.

  
  


“I mean, of course I put a 20 in one.” She continues hammering away onto the hammer-looking invention, “For that lavender haired chick and that boring luck kid from the floor above.” 

  
  


“I would have given some money for the other but I don’t wanna end up hella broke,” She smirked, “Gorgeous, golden brain genius Iruma Miu isn’t just damn pretty and smart, but also _responsible_.” She cackles, “Got that boys? Don’t blame you trying to get all over me!”

  
  


Akamatsu peaks her head into the room, “Iruma, you know you’re supposed to be talking about both Shuichi’s and Kokichi’s relationship, right?” She asks dryly. 

  
  


“Why would I care about those twinks’ goddamn relationship?” She scrunches up her nose in genuine disgust, “Now hand me that hacksaw Bakamatsu.”

  
  


—————

  
  


Shuichi sits in a cleaning closet (again) with a sheepish smile on his face, “Hey.” He gives a little wave to the camera, “The attentions been a bit much so I’m hiding here for now.”

  
  


“I didn't believe the bet would be that large,” He admits, “I thought it was just something between some friends on my floor, but apparently not. There’s about 50 people in on it.” He pauses, “I’m not mad. Just surprised they were able to hide it from us that long considering…” He scoots up to the camera and turns it around, opening the door just a crack. As soon as the door opens, there are two loud voices arguing about some private matter in the middle of the hallway. The door closes again.

  
  


“Ludenberg from the floor above showed us all of the bets when Kokichi and I promised we wouldn’t kill anyone,” He explains, “And there are _a lot_ of bets. I’m pretty sure I saw one along the lines of _‘how long until Komaeda blows up a room again’.”_ He shakes his head.

  
  


“Hopefully, not any time soon.”

  
  


—————

  
  


“I thought them getting together would be _better,_ ” Amami complained, watching the new couple chatting from across the room, “I thought it was unbearable to watch Kokichi compliment Saihara while he stood there flustered, but now that I see this, it’s worse.”

  
  


Shinguji stops pouring his tea into his cup for a split moment to take in what the other man had just said, “Pray tell, what do you mean?” 

  
  


“Saihara is flirting back and now they’re both just standing there awkwardly flustered,” He sighs and buries his face in his hands, “I suppose it’s expected. It’s only been a day after all.”

  
  


“Yes.. You are correct.” Shinguji takes a sip out of the practically boiling cup (Amami doesn’t know how he does that. Both because of his mask and because of the drink’s temperature). “Humanity is quite beautiful, isn’t it? Interestingly beautiful to observe.”

  
  


At this rate, Amami doesn’t bother to respond to him. He’s gotten desensitized to his weirdness (and literally everyone’s else’s _interesting_ personalities) by now. 

  
  


He watches as Shuichi leans forwards, pressing a short kiss on Ouma’s cheek. The shorter’s eyes widened and he rushed out the office doors, leaving a stricken Shuichi behind. 

  
  


Both Shinguji and Amami _cringed._

  
  


—————

  
  


“He kissed me.” Ouma is sitting on a spinning chair, twirling around in circles, “He actually kissed me. On the cheek, but still.”

  
  


“I mean, I was _about time._ I mean, I did court him with a bunch of coffee and flowers, but _still_ I can’t help feelings.. mushy _._ ” He scrunches up his nose in disgust.

  
  


“I feel stupid, like a stupid lovesick child. This is dumb.” The chair stops spinning and you can finally see Ouma’s flushed face, “I’ll get better at this eventually.”

  
  


The camera shuts off.

  
  


—————

  
  


On a Tuesday three months later, Shuichi walks into his cubicle to see an exact dozen of lavender roses scattered across his desk. His lips curved up to a smile. He looks over across the aisle to see Amami staring at him with both amusement and annoyance at the same time. Like before, there’s a lavender rose petal sitting on his shoulder. He doesn’t move to brush it off.

  
  


Shuichi sighs and gathers up the roses into a neat bouquet while smiling. He walks out to the receptionist desk where Akamatsu is already standing with a purple vase. 

  
  


He raised an eyebrow at her, “Did you know..?

  
  


She giggles and takes the flowers away from him, “Had a hunch.”

  
  


“Or~ You saw him coming into the office with the flowers?” Shuichi says instead, touching up the petals and making them look softer.

  
  


“Caught and guilty,” She laughs again, “Sorry I couldn’t tell you the first time.”

  
  


He smiles at her and steps back to head back into the office, “It’s fine, Kaede. Thanks.” 

  
  


She beams and gives him a friendly wave as he heads back inside. When he gets back to his desk, he notices that Amami, along with the rest of the floor’s staff, were nowhere to be seen, and that his chair was spun away from him unlike how he left it.

  
  


He sighs and smiles brighter than ever. He knows exactly what happened, “Good morning. It seems you were busy this morning.”

  
  


The chair spins around dramatically, like in those movies when the villain reveals themselves. But instead of a villain, it’s Ouma sitting in the chair with a mischievous look on his face.

  
  


“Good morning, my beloved!” He chirps, leaping off the chair and hiding his hands behind his back, “And of course I’m busy! I spent all morning running away from the horrible police! I can’t believe they’re still trying to catch me for what I stole!”

  
  


“Let me guess, you chased out everyone because you wanted to tell me something.” He paused, “And you somehow broke the vending machine and took all the panta,” Shuichi grins, restraining a chuckle at Ouma’s surprised expression.

  
  


Ouma ignores the first part and stares at Shuichi quizzically on how he knew about the latter, “Wait, how did you know that?”

  
  


“I saw Tanaka and Kuzuryuu raiding the vending machine’s snacks for their floor’s gaming night.”

  
  


“And you instantly assumed _I_ broke it?” Ouma suddenly sniffed, his eyes brimming with tears, “I _can’t believe you_!” He cries, the tears running down his face, “I thought you were supposed to love me unconditionally!” He wails.

  
  


Despite the fact that his tears were 99% just crocodile tears, Shuichi still felt guilty for making him cry, “Oh, come on Kokichi… You know I don’t mean it like that.”

  
  


The tears stopped and he sighed, “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

  
  


“So what are you doing here?” Shuichi asks. As soon as Ouma opens his mouth, Shuichi cuts in again, “And don’t say ‘ _I work here’_.”

  
  


Ouma pouts, “Jeez, you know me so well Shumai,” He says, though he doesn’t seem at all upset by it, “Anyways, I came here to give this to you!” 

  
  


And as quick as a flash, Ouma whipped his hands from behind his back, throwing something at Shuichi's face. It bounced off his forehead, landing in his hands.

  
  


They were two red roses tied neatly with a silk, purple ribbon. He didn’t know why two roses, but he knew it had to mean something. What he did know was what the meaning of red roses and his face burned a dark red.

  
  


“Oh.”

  
  


Ouma was also blushing, his chipper expression gone and his bottom half of his face covered by a checkered scarf he had recently taken up wearing, “Wow. What an answer,” He muttered, his voice muffled.

  
  


“N-No! I mean—“ Shuichi held the roses close to his chest and pulled Ouma into a hug, “Thanks Kokichi. Really. I do love you too, you know that?”

  
  


Ouma buried his face into Shuichi’s stomach, “Arg. I hate this,” He mumbled, though he didn’t try to move away (maybe it was because Shuichi was tightly holding onto him, but he would like to think it was because he didn’t want to let go).

  
  


“No you don’t. You’re secretly a sap, aren’t you? I mean, you left gifts at my desk instead of talking to me,” Shuichi teased, grinning when he felt the other’s face heat up.

  
  


Ouma’s reply was quiet, but he still heard it all the same. 

  
  


“Only for you, Shuichi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This originally was only supposed to be about 1000 words but i have no self-control
> 
> Notes:
> 
> \- The meaning of two roses usually means mutual love and affection (Ouma is a sap and you can fight me on that)  
> \- If you can’t tell, flustered Ouma is one of my favourite Oumas to write. Too bad I didn’t get much time to write him  
> \- Miu mentioned two new bets. I only specified one so feel free to think whomever is in the other  
> \- Shinguji was actually pretty.. satisfying to write..?  
> \- Do you know how damn hard it is to write a perfectly in-character Iruma without lewd comments or swearing? I hope I did her as much justice as I could  
>   
> Thank you again for reading! 💖


End file.
